


thrive in thin soil

by buries



Category: Friday Night Lights
Genre: Alternate Universe, F/M, Future Fic
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2012-09-10
Updated: 2012-09-10
Packaged: 2017-11-13 22:48:52
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,216
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/508561
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/buries/pseuds/buries
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>tim and julie reconnect years later in boston. set pre-relationship. future fic. au on season four.</p>
            </blockquote>





	thrive in thin soil

**Author's Note:**

> i haven't seen season four, so i'm just going off of what i've heard. written for meghan_84 at the fnl_santa (2011) at livejournal. title is from the pam brown quote featured.

a friendship can weather most things and thrive in thin soil; but it needs a little mulch of letters and phone calls and small, silly presents every so often - just to save it from drying out completely. \- pam brown 

-

They meet up years later in Boston. Julie knows how long it’s been since they last crossed paths and Tim – Tim doesn’t know, doesn’t take notice of these things when he’s not trapped in a square room with bars and a small window with a rather shitty view. Even so, he doesn’t take notice. Those important moments that pass him by? Pass.

She works at a record store part-time. He walks in one day. In the present, she thinks she’s lucky. It’s not that she’s necessarily not in contact with anyone else – there’s Tyra, who bullies Landry into emailing her once every week. It was a chore at first, emailing Landry, because they never really existed without Matt or Tyra to run verbal interference. But Landry’s one of her closest confidantes now. Matt doesn’t call as much as he used to and Lois, well, she’s not really going to miss Lois. The point, though, is that everything has changed since she left Dillon. It’s changed in a good way – and, of course, in a bad way. She just doesn’t know which part of her (Dillon-her or post-Dillon) fits in which category. 

Later, in hindsight, she’ll think this is the unluckiest moment of her life. (It’s not her fault she had forgotten what a _pain in the ass_ Tim Riggins was – and always will be.)

“Hey, Little Taylor,” he says, sort of grinning, sort of trying to not grin. He’s a little uneasy; people have changed since he’s been out of jail. Tim changes people, makes them make silly choices and move away from the warm Texas sun. Julie doesn’t linger on the thought that he’s lost everything because he’s pushed them away – like Street, who he pushed into the arms of happiness, and Tyra, who he coerced into leaving Dillon because the Riggins-Collette family needs to make mistakes and she needs to live her life. 

“Hey, Tim,” Julie says, her smile wide. He’s still as tall as ever, and radiates warmth that reminds her of days lying underneath the Texas sun. “How can I help you?”

“You work here?” he says, eyebrows raised. It should be obvious, shouldn’t it? Her name badge is pinned to a plain t-shirt. He sort of regains his composure and his face smoothens out. He becomes serious again; the way his face changes is the exact same when she was tutouring him. Brows furrowed, lines in his forehead rival those of a bulldog’s, and his spine straightens. “Er – came here to get Tyra a gift.”

“You still talk to Tyra?” Julie says before she can think, her eyebrow already cocked. She doesn’t know the details, but she had always figured Tyra would leave a bad thing behind. It seems, to Julie’s utter surprise, that despite Tyra’s boasting of moving on and as far away from Texas, she’s kept something from the place very dear to her heart.

Tim nods. “Yeah,” his hand goes to the back of his neck as he says, “she helped me out of a jam.” Julie nods. Her memory lingers on a vague explanation from Tyra about his truck – how Tyra had bought the piece of junk to save it from being sold to someone else when Billy struck trouble in the financial side of raising a family while still making stupid decisions.

Before she can think, to consider how different they may be, she grins and says, “Knocked some sense into your pea-sized brain?”

Tim laughs. “What are you doin’ in Boston? I always had you pegged for The Big Apple.”

Julie shrugs. “I teach dance at a centre here.” His eyebrows raise, as though who she is now doesn’t fit in with where he had pictured her to be. Before he left, and before she left, she remembers the praise and faith that started to build in him for her. He was her biggest cheerleader, almost surpassing Tyra. “It’s not my dream job, I’ll admit, but it’s the next best damn thing. These kids … it’s amazing, Tim, to see their faces light up every time they’re in the studio. Best talent in the world is here, I think.”

“Well,” he says, and what comes out of his mouth next is so unlike him that she’s struck with how grown up he is, “I’m glad you’re happy.”

She nods, about to say ‘thanks’, but says, “I heard you went back to Billy’s business.”

“For a month,” he says. “It didn’t quite work out. Billy ...” he looks off to the side, looking at one of the records or a poster or something. He comes back to her, though, his eyes shine a little duller. “Billy wants to make it up to me.”

“I don’t blame him,” she says immediately. “You took the fall for him. He must feel like he owes you.”

“That’s what Tyra says,” he mutters. “I just ... don’t know how to deal with it. So I left.”

She mock-gasps, slapping her palm against her chest. “You _left_ Dillon? _You?_ ”

“Yeah,” he grins, flushing. “Things change. Dreams change. Needed some new scenery.”

She nods. “Maybe I could be your tour guide. How long are you staying?”

He shrugs. “I go where the wind takes me these days.”

She rolls her eyes. “What did you want for Tyra?”

Tim seems to snap out of whatever he’s been lost in and comes to life. “Er ... somethin’ that she’ll like?”

Julie laughs. “Well,” she says, “she may like something over here.” She walks over to the other side of the store where the CDs are. Tim looks over his shoulder at the records hanging on the wall and in their little slots in the boxes.

“You sure?”

“Yes,” she says. “Tyra doesn’t have a player for records. She’s only got a CD player,” she says, laughing. 

“Oh,” says Tim. She flicks through the CDs and pulls a few out. 

“She may –”

“I’ll take ‘em.”

Julie looks up from her flicking through the other CDs. He’s got this sincere look on this face. He’s determined, just like he was back when she was tutouring him, to get this right. “Tim ...”

“What?” he says. “Better give her a few. I’ve missed out on a few of her birthdays.”

She frowns. “To no fault of your own.”

He shrugs. It’s a little infuriating how he’s okay with this, how he resists to fight the card fate handed him.

She moves to the register with him following. He pays for the few CDs, taking the little plastic bag from her when they’ve finished the transaction. He lingers a little. She places her hands in the back pockets of her jeans.

“Well, while I’m here, you wanna …” he throws his thumb over his shoulder.

Julie laughs. “Want to what?”

He rolls his eyes, playfully exasperated as he smiles. “Wanna get some lunch?”

Her face falls. “I can’t … I’ve got a class, and I promised to help my friend …”

“It’s alright,” he says quickly. “How ‘bout Tuesday?”

Julie smiles, feeling her face flush and her body hum with excitement. “I’ll see what I can do.”


End file.
